Phoenix
by Aaron Nowack
Summary: A character sketch of Saffron during the battle at Jusendo.


  
Phoenix  
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic  
By: Aaron Nowack  
  
***********************************************************************  
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I am not Rumiko  
Takahashi. Therefore, I do not own Ranma 1/2. The text of this fanfic  
is mine, and may not be used without permission. Thank you. This  
disclaimer brought to you by the letter 'H' and the number '9.8752544'.  
***********************************************************************  
  
Darkness surrounds me. I hear nothing. I feel nothing. And so  
it will remain until the transformation is finished. And then, I will  
save my people.  
  
A sound! It's too early. Something, probably someone, has  
somehow managed to crack my shell. This cannot be! With the  
transformation incomplete... my fire will rage uncontrolled. Already, I  
can feel them coming... and nothing will quench them. Nothing!  
  
I slowly rise out of the wreckage of my shell, and search the  
cavern. There! There's that... that insufferable landling boy! The  
one who's struggled to stop me at every turn, who visited indignity upon  
me at the springs.  
  
Now, once more possessing an adult's mind and body, I might have  
forgiven him that, and even for stealing the Kinjakan. But not for  
this. Not for dooming my people to another century of slow extinction.  
Without control, I cannot provide for them.  
  
I will have vengeance!  
  
I almost laugh as the boy mutters a curse. At least he  
understands his situation. I will most enjoy slowly roasting him and  
his friends. They deserve no better.  
  
Without words, I launch a firebolt at the landlings to keep them  
busy. It will almost certainly not be enough to kill them... but then I  
don't want them dead, yet.  
  
The boy speaks. Good, he recognizes me. He will know why he  
must die. I quickly accept the apologies of Wombat and Kima. No doubt  
they did what they could, and this disaster is not their fault. I put  
on a false show of hope, speaking of future opportunities... but  
undoubtedly my people will all be dead before one presents itself.  
  
I step forward and turn to the boy. "Ranma..." I growl.  
"Before I horribly dismember you and your friends, protocol requires me  
to explain the entire plot to you." I pause for a moment, memorizing  
the looks on their faces. I will savor their pain for a long time.  
"Let me tell you of the true fate of all kings of Phoenix Mountain..."  
  
I being to explain the enormity of their crime. What is this!  
The boy dares to mock me! My talons clench and my whole body shakes  
with rage. The boys yells something about sharing... the fool doesn't  
understand the enormity of the magic required for the transformation.  
Besides, it does the world a service, by draining the malign magic of  
the Pools of Sorrow.  
  
Heh. Apparently the boy's wench... or one of them at least...  
needs the water to survive. Normally, I could care less... but I will  
joyously deny that access now, so that the boy will suffer as my people  
will be made to suffer by his actions.  
  
"So be it," I reply. "The die is cast. Better show me what you  
have before I fry you to the bone!" I yell as I hurl a fireball at the  
landlings. They survive, of course. I want their deaths to be slow.  
  
I think I'll let them know that. "Ranma..." I say as they  
huddle over the shrunken form of the wench. "You caused my premature  
rebirth, ruining the happiness of my people. The crime is  
unforgivable!" I smile at them. "I'll have to kill you slowly, so you  
will have time to regret your mistake."  
  
What insolence! They insult me? No, they threaten me! The  
fools think that my powers are weakened! "Weak, am I?" I ask. "Then get  
ready for a fraction of my abilities!" I scream, throwing their own  
words back at them.  
  
I unleash my flames, raging uncontrollably. White hot fire  
fills the cavern, scorching the ancient stones. They... will... DIE!!  
  
Ha! The idiots flee before me, scattering like the rodents they  
are. Run all you like, humans. My flames will turn your flesh to ash  
in the end. Kima is already explaining their mistake to them. Good. I  
won't have to waste my breath.  
  
What? The boy has grabbed the Gekkaja! He's trying to get the  
water flowing again. How amusing. I let him almost reach the tap  
before lashing out. "You DARE to ignore me?"  
  
The blast blows the boy out of the cave, and I follow quickly. He's the  
biggest threat, so I'll deal with him first. What? Has the idiot  
managed to fall down? Pathetic.  
  
No, he's above me. Interesting. But not enough. I send fire  
up to meet him. Heh. The boy swears vengeance on me! For what? He is  
the one who chose to become involved. Pure insanity. This boy couldn't  
even take on one of the Musk, much less the Lord of Phoenix Mountain in  
his full glory.  
  
Damn! I let him get too close. The boy has severed one of my  
wings. Annoying, but hardly crippling... at least for me. But perhaps  
I shall just finish the boy off. Playing with him might be a bit too  
dangerous. Hah! The boy thinks he's won! Not so easily, Saotome  
Ranma...  
  
With one arm, I shoot a pillar of flame towards the ground,  
arresting my fall. I send more fire towards the boy, forcing him back.  
"You foolish landling! I am as the Phoenix! The greatest of my people,  
even should I die, I would rise eternally from the flames!" He might as  
well know that his battle is hopeless.  
  
Hmm... the boy's intelligence is less than adequate. I should  
probably make it clearer. "Give up your foolish quest, landling! I am  
immortal! You can never win!" To illustrate my point, I regenerate my  
lost wings.  
  
Time to finish this. Saotome, you have been an amusing  
opponent. Not a challenging one, but amusing none the less. Your  
bravery is of legendary to stature, to take on a god. But your  
foolishness is equal to your courage, for the same reason.  
  
I float before landling, and decide to taunt him one last time.  
"I am immortal, landling. To even defeat me on this day, you'd have to  
cut my entire body to pieces. But then, to do that... you would have to  
get close to me! Lots of luck, landling scum!"  
  
I rip off my own wing. This will finish him off. "Blazing  
Emperor's Wing!" The flaming wing darts towards him, there is no way he  
can dodge in time. He blocks with the Gekkaja. Fool. That will only  
give him a few more moments to live.  
  
Heh. He's dropped the Gekkaja! He has no chance now! What's  
this? He's dropped his wench, also! Delightful. Her death can be on  
his hands. I form my largest fireball yet, and send it towards the  
pair. They will certainly die.  
  
I float towards the smoking ground. "How pathetic... looks as  
if even his bones were reduced to ash." Wait... "What?" I exclaim.  
Saotome's hardly singed. "In the name of the egg?! HOW?! A puny mortal  
survived a direct hit from my fireball?! Inconceivable!"  
  
The boy checks on his wench... wait. Yes, that's it. "You have  
a fool's luck, Ranma." I proceed to explain how the girl blocked my  
attack. Fascinating in the abstract, but very frustrating in reality.  
"You landlings are such sentimental fools," I finish, and prepare for  
the next round.  
  
Though... I myself am not immune to sentiment myself. The wench  
really did nothing to deserve my anger. "My condolences on the girl's  
death. My vengeance was not directed at her. But, like her, I have  
little time left." Why? Why do I explain myself to the landling... to  
Ranma? "I must to the hot spring bath in order to complete my  
transformation. I cannot turn my fire off and I must gain the  
regulating ability before I burn myself out." It probably won't work,  
but it's my only chance. "So, sorry to say..."  
  
"...You won't be touching the cold spring water in this  
lifetime, landling scum!" I resume my attack as Ranma leaps towards the  
Gekkaja. As though he could figure out how to use it properly. "It's  
time to end this dance! DIE, RANMA!"  
  
It can't be! The Gekkaja blocked the attack. Saotome has the  
luck of ten thousand fools, not just one. I scan the ground, as soon as  
he shows himself... there! "You are a fool to expose yourself!"  
  
What?! He's using the girl as a shield... on purpose?! "You  
scum! You disgust even me!" Wait... it was a fake. For some reason, I  
am pleased. I would hate for such an opponent to prove himself unworthy  
of facing me. I resume my attack.  
  
Ranma's figured out how to use the Gekkaja as a shield! He  
begins to amaze me. Too bad he wastes his time sketching some design on  
the ground. Time for him to die...  
  
"Hiryu Shoten Ha!" roars the boy. What? I should have  
realized... after all, that attack was designed to try to stop me. But  
why would the Amazons have taught it to a male, much less an outsider  
male? A question for a later date. I will deal with Saotome now.  
  
"Tricky little bastard! But what do you hope to accomplish with  
this attack?! Fool! I am a bird! No wind attack can defeat me! I can  
simply fly through them!" As the Amazons had discovered when they first  
tried the technique on me.  
  
No! The boy's behind me! How the... the wind. Of course.  
COLD! He's using the Gekkaja on ME! "Damn you!" How could he have  
mastered it so quickly? It's impossible!  
  
What? "The Kinjakan! This isn't over yet!" I snag the weapon  
with my free hand. "I WILL NEVER YIELD! Just try your futile attack  
again! I will prove the error of your ways with your death!" We lock  
weapons, and a grin forms on my face.  
  
"Idiot! You are a fool to brazenly use a weapon you know  
nothing about. The two key tools mirror each other, perfectly  
reflecting the other's attack. The irony is delicious." My grin widens  
as the last of the ice melts off of me. "How is your resistance to  
cold, stupid mortal? You will freeze yourself to the bone, while  
bathing in the fires of the Kinjakan is like a cool summer's breeze to  
me!" It's almost sad, in a way. Ranma is an excellent fighter. "Young  
fool... only now... at the end.. do you understand."  
  
I renew my attack, screaming words I hardly pay any attention  
to. This time, Ranma will die this time. That is certain. His skill  
cannot save him. The Gekkaja cannot save him. Nothing can save him! I  
smile at his cries of pain.  
  
Heh. Even now he struggles! "Give it up. Even if you escape  
the force of the flames, I will only..." Something... the rock that was  
falling under him, slams into me with tremendous force. Damn! I should  
have kept track... My flames weaken as the pain fills me. Curse this  
new, weak body!  
  
One of Ranma's companions is even now hurling more rocks into  
the fray. Another Amazon technique in the hands of an outsider male.  
Interesting. But... how will I stop the assault? Damn there are so  
many... "Keep them away!"  
  
This was a duel! The landling had no business interfering! He  
can wait his turn! "Damn you! Fight fair!" I blaze away at the  
oncoming rocks. Damn! I lost track of Ranma again, and he nailed me  
with a kick! This is insane! I am the Lord of Phoenix Mountain! I...  
will... not... lose!  
  
I unleash the full power of my flames, melting the very rock  
around me. This ends here! I rise up out of the fire, searching for  
Ranma. I will finish him now!  
  
There! I scream at him for a moment. I don't really recognize  
what I'm saying. It's not important. He won't live a moment longer.  
"Mount Phoenix Royal Family Final Attack! Any-Mortal Instant-  
Annihilation Emperor-Sized Ball Blast!"  
  
The fireblast turns the entire mountaintop into a massive pile  
of rubble. Saotome is dead. He was at the center of the blast.  
Finally, I have triumphed. Now, to see to the others...  
  
It can't be! Ranma... froze himself solid! Damn! He's still  
alive. I can't believe it. What will it take to bring that boy down?  
I have to get back to the cold spring water in time! I hurl the  
Kinjakan's blade at him, wounding him a little.  
  
"You actually froze yourself solid with the Gekkaja to stop my  
attack?! Your persistence is incredible for a mere mortal. And very,  
very annoying!" But very well. He can't maneuver, he can't make an  
attack. "A clever trick, but you only delay the inevitable! My next  
blast will shatter your frozen body to pieces!"  
  
I muster my energy for one last blow. Hold nothing back. I  
will make sure he dies! "Any-Mortal Instant-Annihilation Emperor-Sized  
Ball Blast!" Ha! He cannot escape my final attack a second time!  
Victory is mine!  
  
The girl! She's punching a hole through the flames. Damn  
idiot! I try to spare her as best I can, and she throws her life away!  
Does she even realize how hard it was to make that cursed spring without  
killing her?! "Foolish girl! How many times do you wish to die? My  
blast will incinerate you!"  
  
What? The boy... Dragon of Ice? No! He's using the hole,  
he's going to... I will not fail! I will triumph! No! I feel the ice  
puncture my chest. Breath come with difficulty. I can feel myself  
dying. I no longer have the strength to keep myself in the air.  
  
How? I am the Lord of Phoenix Mountain! How could I have lost?  
Lost to a mere mortal, to a piece of landling trash, to Ranma Saotome!  
When everything was on the line, I lost! I failed my people... if only  
I could truly die here, and not have to remember this day for the rest  
of eternity.  
  
But... but... I am immortal.  



End file.
